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There actually is a standard format for bounces. RFC 3462[1] defines Multipart/Report, a multipart MIME type for sending back delivery reports. Most big-name ma

by zrail 15y ago

There actually is a standard format for bounces. RFC 3462[1] defines Multipart/Report, a multipart MIME type for sending back delivery reports. Most big-name mail providers send bounces in this format these days, but there are still zillions of other MTAs out there that send in their own peculiar variation on text/plain. For example, last week while churning through a pile of bounces while writing a bounce processor I came across one that declared it was text/plain but then included quoted-printable HTML of a report page and some of the original message. No headers, of course. [1]: http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3462 http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3462

smsm42 15y ago
You are right, I was wrong saying no standard exists. It does exist, but is not followed unfortunately.
- zrail 15y ago
  No worries. I was mostly just pointing out that even though a standard exists it's just one of many formats for bounces, so they're still difficult to deal with.